Surviving The Virus (Book 5): Extermination

by Casey, Ryan

  He wondered where Kelly and Baby Edward were. Whether they were okay. Whether they were even still alive.

  And he knew he had no choice but to go in there and find out for himself.

  He knew he…

  He stopped.

  There was a body lying on the ground beside him.

  A body he recognised.

  Dark skinny jeans.

  Choppy black hair.

  Zelda.

  He saw her lying there, dead, and two questions sparked in his mind.

  He’d killed her. He swore he’d killed her.

  But if she was here—if she’d been shot…. Then that meant he hadn’t killed her.

  It meant she’d got out of that well somehow.

  She’d fought her way here.

  And she’d died.

  He swallowed a sickly lump in his throat.

  Barney ran up to her. Nudged her with his nose. Whined a little.

  Eddie stood beside her body. Put a hand on it. “Sorry, lad,” he said to Barney. “She’s gone now. She’s gone.”

  He looked into Zelda’s vacant green eyes, and he took a deep breath. He knew where he needed to be. But more than anything else, he needed to do this.

  For himself.

  And for her.

  “I know you’ll never forgive me for what I did,” Eddie said. “And I don’t deserve to be forgiven. I just hope I can help the ones of us still standing enough that it might go some way. Not for me. Not because of my fucked-up guilt. Not to prove anything. But for them. And only for them.”

  He closed Zelda’s eyes and put a hand on her cold chest.

  Then he took a deep breath, stood up, and went to turn to the community gates.

  That’s when he heard the little whine.

  He looked around.

  A little black dog sat there, staring at him. A puppy. Tilting its little head from side to side. Back arched, tail tucked right between its legs.

  “Hey…” Eddie started.

  Then he saw Barney run over to the puppy. Perch right beside it. Lick its fur. And the puppy, it seemed to enjoy it.

  Eddie looked at the pair of them and felt himself welling up. He looked away. Closed his eyes a second. He didn’t want to walk away from Barney. Didn’t want to abandon him.

  But he felt like this dog had a greater purpose right now.

  He leaned towards Barney. Hugged him. Held him tight. Tears streamed down his face.

  And then he moved back. Remembered the times they’d spent together. That time, on their own, looking after Kelly’s place, just the two of them. Hard times, but they’d stood by one another, helped one another.

  “You look after the little one,” Eddie said. “You keep on being a good lad, okay? ’Cause you are. You really are.”

  Barney licked his face.

  Eddie smiled. Laughed a little, between the tears.

  “I don’t… I don’t know if I’ll see you again,” he said. “But you look after this pup, okay? And someone will be here for you. I promise. I promise.”

  He stood up. Walked off, into the distance. Fully expected the dogs to follow.

  When he looked back, he saw Barney staring at him. The puppy by his side.

  Both of them staying put. Like they understood.

  Eddie turned and took a deep breath.

  He walked towards them slowly. It was anarchy. Total chaos. The bulk of Curtis’ people had headed inside. Some of them ran off, fled, not wanting to be a part of this.

  It was only seeing the chaos here that Eddie truly realised how much Curtis had lost his grip. Because this was supposed to be a slow, methodical mission that started with him and Marky spying.

  It was supposed to be an organised mission.

  Instead, it’d turned into a shitshow.

  He walked up to the gates of the community. Passed more bodies. Some of them of women. Some of children. Some of people. People he knew from Curtis’ place. People he recognised.

  Out of nowhere, a man jogged past him. Damien. Quiet guy. Always used to drink at the bar.

  He limped along, blood pooling from his thigh. Shook his head when he saw Eddie.

  “Get away from here, man. Get away from here while you have the chance. Curtis. He’s—he’s lost it. And there ain’t gonna be nothing left for people like us. They’re gonna destroy themselves. Get away.”

  He watched Damien limp past him, off into the distance, and he wondered just how out of control things had got here. What Curtis was doing. How far he was going.

  He knew there were no lengths he wouldn’t go to. Not really.

  He couldn’t afford to dwell on that right now.

  He just had to get inside.

  Find Kelly.

  Find his son.

  And make damned sure he did his duty and protected them, no matter what.

  He went to take a step inside the community when he heard the click of a gun somewhere behind him.

  “Don’t you move another fucking muscle.”

  Eddie froze.

  Then he turned around. Slowly.

  Carlos stood there. Greaseball of a guy. Knuckle-headed thug who never left the Watering Hole. Eddie wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him sober before.

  When his eyes met Eddie’s, his smile widened, and his rifle dropped.

  “Hell. Funny-man! How the hell you keeping? Thought you were one of them.”

  He walked over to Eddie.

  “How about a joke, buddy? For old times sakes.”

  Eddie looked right into his eyes. “Here’s one for you. What do you call an alcoholic, knuckle-headed prick who just about defeated the laws of natural selection to even function as a human being, all his god-damned life?”

  Carlos frowned. “What—”

  “Fucking Carlos,” he said.

  And then Eddie punched him in the face. Hard.

  And then he kicked him in the balls.

  Made him keel over.

  Made him wince.

  He grabbed the rifle. Tried to snatch it from Carlos.

  But Carlos still had hold of the trigger.

  He fired a few wayward shots, all around Eddie’s feet.

  He tightened his grip on that rifle. Tried his damnedest to steer its shots away.

  But Carlos still had tight hold of it.

  He looked up at Eddie with those angry, bloodshot eyes. Blood streaming from his broken nose.

  “Always knew you were a soft prick,” he said. “Always knew you’d join the other side as soon as you could. Time to show you just how fucking weak you really are.”

  He yanked the rifle back.

  Sent Eddie tumbling face-first to the ground.

  He turned on to his back.

  Looked up at Carlos. Right into his eyes.

  Rifle pressed against his chubby neck.

  “Sweet dreams, fat boy,” Carlos said. “Ain’t no getting out of this one. Not now.”

  Eddie gripped around for something he could use—anything he could use.

  And then his hand met a rock.

  A heavy rock.

  “Maybe you’re right,” Eddie said. “But you were wrong about one thing.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I’m not weak.”

  He threw the heavy rock up.

  It slammed against Carlos’s head.

  Knocked him off balance.

  Eddie jolted to his feet, the pain in his gunshot shoulder still burning, still intense.

  He rugby tackled Carlos to the ground.

  Wrapped his hands around his neck.

  Pushed down. Pushed down so hard that he started to struggle. To splutter. Saliva drooling from between his lips. Eyes bulging like golf balls.

  “Being a fat boy has its advantages, you fucking prick,” Eddie said.

  And then he tightened his hands even harder.

  Felt Carlos’s neck giving way under his fingers.

  Heard his straining to breathe, spluttering, felt his shaking either side.

  And then he
struggled a few more times and went still.

  Eddie sat back. Covered his face with his hands, still soaked with dried blood from killing last night.

  Another body on his hands.

  But this one for a good cause.

  This one for a cause he needed to fulfil.

  He stood up. Turned around. Ran, now. Rifle in hand. A chance.

  Save Kelly.

  Save Baby Edward.

  What he had to do.

  He reached the gates to the community. Passed more blood-soaked bodies. Heard agonised cries. Saw bullet casings all over the road. Smelled the burning metal of gunfire in the air.

  “Kelly?” he shouted.

  He walked down this empty street. Children lay dead. Women lay dead with babies in their arms.

  And this was on Curtis.

  All of this was on Curtis.

  He’d cracked.

  He’d snapped.

  And the people who followed him—those on the fence—would not forgive him for this.

  Unless they were left with no choice.

  Eddie turned the corner and froze.

  There was a crowd of people gathered up ahead.

  Curtis stood in the middle of them.

  He had a pistol to somebody’s head.

  That somebody was his son.

  “You kneel,” Curtis shouted. “You get on your goddamned knees, or he dies. You understand? He dies.”

  And they all sat on their knees.

  Kelly.

  Noah.

  Every damned person.

  Except him.

  He took a deep breath.

  Gritted his teeth.

  Swallowed a lump in his throat.

  Because if one thing was for sure, Eddie was done being Curtis’ fucking clown.

  Chapter Forty

  “On your knees, hmm,” Curtis shouted. “Yes. Just like that. That’s how I goddamned like it!”

  Noah sat on his knees. He still had hold of his rifle. He wanted to lift it. Shoot Curtis. Take him out.

  But right now, it was just too risky.

  He had hold of a baby.

  A screaming, crying little boy.

  A little boy who he had no doubt was Kelly and Eddie’s son.

  Kelly sat on her knees before Curtis. Shaking her head. Crying.

  All around, more people kneeled.

  People from the community.

  Men and women from his own community.

  All of them, kneeling in service.

  The ones who were left, anyway.

  The ones who’d stood by.

  Curtis walked around in a small circle. Looked at every one of them. Baby screaming in his hands.

  “Now, I wanted to bring you here like this ’cause I wanted to see for myself. I heard little rumours. Little rumours all for myself, oh boy. But those rumours said some of you weren’t all too keen on my way of doing things anymore. Some of you didn’t want what I wanted. What we’d worked so hard for. And I had to see it for myself. I had to see who the strong were. Who the weak were. I think we’ve got our answer today, hmm?”

  Noah looked around at all these kneelers, and he hated them.

  But at the same time… what else could they do?

  They didn’t want to see Curtis murder a baby.

  They didn’t want to see anything like that.

  There were more of Curtis’ men, too. Some still standing. Holding rifles to the heads of those who’d surrendered.

  But some of those didn’t look totally happy about this themselves.

  They looked conflicted. Torn.

  Eager to end on the right side of this battle.

  Curtis kept on walking around. “So now we see who the strong are. And now we see who the weak are. And I geddit. Really, I do. It ain’t easy keeping a straight face when you’re doing the real nasty things. But I was always honest with you folks. If you didn’t want to stick around, you knew where the road was—”

  “That’s not true.”

  A voice.

  One of the men on their knees.

  Noah looked at him. Curly-haired guy. Short and blond locks. He recognised him from the docks.

  “What was that?” Curtis said.

  “I said it’s not true. You pretended there was a way out. You—you pretended we could escape. But there wasn’t any way out. Once we were in, we were in. And you know it. All of us know it. Wake up. Wake the fuck up, the lot of you. This is your moment. This is your chance. This is—”

  Curtis lifted his pistol and fired a bullet between his eyes.

  Sent him flying back into the crowd.

  He lowered his pistol. Snorted. “Sick of that blabber-mouth’s bullshit. Anyone else?”

  Silence followed. Silence, but for Kelly’s baby. Screaming. Crying.

  And a look in Curtis’ eye.

  A mean look in his eye that made Noah wonder if he even planned on letting that baby live at all.

  And then he looked right at Noah, and he smiled.

  “Noah. My prize man. This is like deja vu, huh? Takes me back to the first time we met. Makes me kind of… emotional, hmm. Always knew you’d be kneeling again for me someday. Not like that warrior princess girlfriend of yours, hmm?”

  “She had a name,” Noah said.

  “‘She had a name!’” Curtis said in a mocking voice. “Oh, Noah. Haven’t you realised by now? I don’t give two fucks whether she had a name or whether she was some kind of artificially intelligent, nameless bot. She disobeyed me. She’s dead. That’s how it works. And that’s how it’s always gonna work.”

  He put the gun to the baby’s head.

  Shrieks ensued, all around.

  He took the gun away, then. “Oh, come off it. You’ve beaten women. You’ve raped ’em. I mean, I can understand the people here not being mad keen, but you guys—my guys—you’ve done the meanest-ass things I’ve ever witnessed. And you want to cry now? Over a baby? Please—”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this,” Noah shouted.

  Curtis looked around. Frowned. “Um, excuse my manners, but I believe it’s goddamned rude to interrupt.”

  But Noah wasn’t giving up. He looked around at Curtis’ people. The ones still holding the guns. “I know you think there’s no way out of this. I know you think you’ve done things you’ll never be forgiven for. That you’ll never forgive yourselves for. I know you think you’re so deep in now that you might as well just keep on going down this road. But it’s… it’s not true. It doesn’t have to be true.”

  The armed people watched him.

  The women watched him. The prisoners.

  The children.

  Kelly.

  Curtis shook his head. “Will someone put this fucker down already before I—”

  “I’ve lived with so much guilt for so much time,” Noah said. “And there were times where I thought I wasn’t going to conquer it. There were times where I thought I might as well just go down a path I don’t want to go down because I didn’t see another way. But there is another way. There’s always another way.”

  “He’s right.”

  A voice.

  He wasn’t sure where it came from.

  He wasn’t sure who it belonged to. Not at first.

  Only that it was familiar.

  The crowd all looked back over Noah’s shoulders.

  Back, right behind him.

  When Noah looked around, he saw exactly who it was.

  And why that voice was so familiar.

  Eddie walked down the road.

  He had a rifle in hand.

  And he was pointing it right at Curtis.

  “Eddie?” Curtis said.

  “Ed—Eddie?” Kelly echoed.

  Eddie’s focus was solely on Curtis. He kept on walking forward. Kept that rifle pointed squarely at him. “I’ve done things I’m guilty about. I’ve gone down roads I regret. And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry for them. But it’s never too late to do the right thing. The same goes for you, Curtis.”r />
  Curtis narrowed his eyes. “What?”

  “My son. You put my son down, and we resolve this. You and me. Like grown adults. Not like this. Not by threatening a baby. Because you know what kind of leader has to threaten a baby to keep his grip on his people?”

  Curtis’ eyes narrowed.

  “A desperate one,” Eddie said.

  “Eddie,” Noah muttered.

  But Eddie just kept walking.

  All those guns raised.

  All pointed at him.

  Curtis still pointing the gun to the baby’s head.

  “And you know what?” Eddie said. “I don’t think you would hurt a baby. Because you know what it would do to you. You’re stupid, but you’re not that stupid. And I think you know that. I think your diehards know that. You kill that baby, and you lose everything. The version of events in your head right now? We stay kneeling. You give Kelly that baby back. You kill me, you kill Noah, and you move forward. And in time, you hope people forget this. You hope people just see it as a big ruse you used to get them to comply. And I don’t think you’ll kill that baby. My baby.”

  “Eddie!” Noah shouted.

  Eddie looked back at Noah. Tears streaming down his cheeks.

  “I’ve done a lot of bad things, buddy. A lot of things I’m sorry for. Jane. Z… Zelda.”

  He looked around at Kelly, then.

  “And Sunil, too.”

  He lowered his head.

  “But I can’t take that back. I can’t take back the things I’ve done. I can only do the right thing right now. And I know what that is.”

  He pointed that rifle at Curtis.

  And for a moment, Noah thought he was going to fire.

  But then he did something Noah wasn’t expecting.

  He dropped his rifle.

  And then he got to his knees.

  “We end this how it should’ve ended when you first laid eyes on me. With me dead. But let Kelly live. Let my son live. I’m not ashamed to beg you. I’m not begging for me. I’m begging for them. But the rest of you. The ones who stand by and watch. I’m begging something else of you. This man. He can’t be your leader. Surely you see that now. The decent ones amongst you. And I know there are decent ones amongst you. I’ve seen it for myself.”

  Curtis looked around. Fear in his eyes. Pistol hand shaking.

  People around him muttering.

  A few rifles lowering.

  “Take me too,” Noah said.

  He wasn’t sure where his voice came from.